CHENNAI: About 15 months after the protests for Jallikattu brought train operations to a standstill in several parts of Tamil Nadu, train services faced major disruption across the State on Thursday due to the statewide strike call given by the DMK and other opposition parties demanding that the Cauvery Management Board (CMB) be constituted.As many as 38 trains, including local, express and passenger, were detained by members of the DMK and other opposition parties at various stations. About 55 trains suffered a delay of 20 to 60 minutes. Particularly, in the Chennai-Salem section, 10 daily intercity express trains got delayed for nearly an hour.
Right from 8 am, the protesters were picketing trains at Chennai, Tiruchy and Tirunelveli stations.
Around 9.30 am, about 500 DMK supporters detained six EMU locals bound for Chennai, Tiruvallur and Chennai Beach. They picketed the Tirupati-Chennai Garudadri Express, which arrived at Avadi station. The EMU locals and the Express train were detained for about 25 minutes. The agitators were evicted from the railway track by police.The agitation between Thirunindravur and Avadi delayed all EMU trains for 25 minutes in the Chennai-Tiruvallur section. Similarly, a group of DMK supporters picketed four EMU locals at the Thirunindravur and Chennai Park stations.
The Chennai-Bengaluru Brindavan Express and Chennai-Coimbatore Intercity Express were picketed by protesters at Vaniyambadi, Jolarpettai and Ambur. The trains were stopped for 20 minutes. In the Salem division, eight trains, including Bengaluru-Chennai Express, Coimbatore-Tirupati Express and Erode- Jolarpettai passenger train were held up at Magudanchavadi, Morappur, Cauvery, Elamanur, Rasipuram, Tirupur and Lalapet.The Bengaluru-Chennai Lalbaugh Express reached Arakkonam late by 70 minutes, while Thiruvananthapuram-Chennai AC Express got delayed for 50 minutes.
The Coimbatore-Chennai IC Express and Bengaluru-Chennai Express suffered a delay of about 45 minutes and 65 minutes, respectively. The Tirupati-Chennai Sapthagiri Express got delayed by 45 minutes.
About 300 protesters detained the Thiruvananthapuram-Madurai Amirtha Express at Pollachi for nearly an hour. Similarly, the Tirunelveli-Nagercoil passenger train was picketed by 200 agitators near the Thamirabharani bridge between Tirunelveli and Sengulam railway stations. The protesters were evicted after nearly 75 minutes. The Chennai Egmore-Kollam Anantapuri Express was delayed by 55 minutes in Nagercoil, while the Guruvayur-Chennai Egmore Express reached Virudhunagar after a delay of two hours and 25 minutes.
In the Tiruchy division, 16 trains, including passenger and express trains, were detained by protesters at Mathur, Ariyalur, Lalgudi, Srirangam, Neyveli, Cuddalore and Thanjavur stations.
Railway sources said this was highest number of train delays in a single day after the Jallikattu protest.
Earlier, Southern Railway General Manager R K Kulshrestha appealed to the public to refrain from detaining trains considering the inconvenience and possible safety hazards.
Stranded at station As many as 38 trains, including locan, express and passenger trains, were blocked by protestors and members of the DMK at various stations in the state over CMB bandh